was an indictment of civilization and its my product. but the review i think of as the most stimulating, if not a realistic appraisal of my work, comes from new musical express in london, who calls me the poet laureate of wild holds with revolvers. [laughter] you hope in vain to see quote like that on the back cover of your next book. [laughter] once i begin selling my work, the first one in 1951, it took 10 years to come up with a natural style that i liked. i would get out of bed at 5 a.m. and right into seven. five days a week, before getting ready for my job at an ad

agency. my only rule at five in the morning, i had to start writing, get right into the story before i could put the water on for coffee. most of the fiction i wrote at daybreak sold the magazine. for 2 cents a word. 310 to yuma in 1953, 4500 words western, sold $490. two years later, a studio paid 4000 to make a movie starring glenn ford. and i liked it a lot, but walter called the picture three hours and 10 minutes past high noon. [laughter] in 1969, i wrote my first book that wasn't a western called the big bounce. my agent in hollywood at the

time to read, called and said kidd, i'm going to make you rich. he saw the big bounce as a quick movie sale. send it out to producers over the next few months and got 84 rejections. i did top that record. i got 105 rejections for another story that offered hitchcock bought, but then died on -- [laughter] but the book did so, and, and twice was adapted for the screen. now, i can't believe anyone in this room so that either version of the picture or remembers it. if you did, because i saw it here in new york, and i came in a little bit late. i was about -- it was about 20 minutes into the picture, and i sat down right after that, the woman in front of me said to her husband, this is the worst picture i ever saw in my life.

[laughter] at the three of us got up and left. [laughter] [applause] and i've never seen the whole movie. [laughter] i wrote screenplays in the '70s, thinking i would be good at it, but wore myself out rewriting scripts for producers who nearly always believed that plot needed more back story. in the winter of 72, swanee called me and asked if i'd read the book by george higgins. i told him i hadn't, hadn't heard of it, and swanee said this is your kind of book. this is your kind of stuff, kiddo your run out and get it before you write another word. i got the book and read the opening sentence in the store.

jackie brown, at 26, with no expression on his face, said that he could get some guns. i finished the book at home in one sitting, it was like 180 pages, and felt like i had been set free. he moved to story almost entirely with dialogue. the conversations of cops and criminals. their voices establishing the style of his writing. i stopped trying to care what was going on in my books, and begin to show, begin to show what from the points of view and the voices of the characters. bad guys and good ones, the way george higgins used his ear to tell what his people were up to. five years after the call came up, a "new york times" review of one of my books said that often cannot resist a set piece, and lowbrow or a, with a crazy kind

of scatological poetry. with the manner of george v. higgins. that's pretty much how i learned to write in a style, i lifted from higgins, but changed enough until it became my own stuff. i want to thank the national book foundation for my award, and recognizing executive director, and his people for keeping this event on track, despite sandy trying to stop us. they deserve our thanks and praise. i have to tell you -- [applause] i have to tell you, i'm energized by this honor. billy thing i've ever wanted to do in my life is have a good time writing stories. this award tells me i'm still at it. thank you.

[applause] >> himr. leonard, i'm sitting aa table with walter mosley and he would like you to know that he sat through the big bounce and enjoyed it. he may have been in a marijuana tent, i'm not sure. [laughter] if you haven't ever read elmore leonard's 10 tips for writing, it will take you to second. do it tomorrow, to announce during dinner on your your smartphones. number 10 is my favorite. from elmore leonard, 10 tips for writing, try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip. [laughter] and that's why that man walked off the stage with a medal. it is time to enjoy your dinner. while you're doing it a want you

to please consider this to a measure of all of you not a process work in which tonight winners get chosen. what happens, this is true, that the four groups of judges met for lunch today, cobol in at different restaurants in manhattan, you know, times are tough something goes like an era -- piner, and they choose the winner in the categories amongst themselves. then just hours ago, and so i can't think that they had to speak in a secret language, right, because you never know if your server is some blogger from gawker in disguise. so i'm thinking maybe these the kind of code to say to their colleagues whom they were voting for. it was like, excuse me, you know what the soup of the -- if you're still serving brunch, may i have the figures benedict? how was the blue berry cobbler. this is getting bad, right?

i will return to the stage after dinner, pumphrey. please enjoy your dinner. [applause] >> good evening. on behalf of the board of directors and the book foundation i would like to welcome you to the 63rd national book awards. [applause] thanks. so, i'd like to start by thanking our dinner co-chairs. [applause] who have truly transform this day. we heard about the new york times, the famous new times article now a few times. that "new york times" article

reported earlier this week that four years ago we were at the marriott, and today not only are we have chippy enrico we have an authentic red carpet pickets over there. if you don't believe me -- and we have an after party with a dj, and not only that but we have a waiting list for after party. so who would have thought that we would have for the after party for the national book awards a waiting list. things have changed. but not everything has changed, because the times also reported, in this case they quoted me, it's not about being with the. it's about increasing the impact, great books have on the culture. that is our mission, and that is why we are here tonight. [applause]

and now come in keeping with that i'd like to acknowledge the extraordinary wide web industry today. with some amazing writers. i can't mention them all, but i can mention like a few of them. i will ask you to hold your applause until i'm done. at me run through a few of the people who are here tonight with a national book award winners mary anne hoberman, james carroll, edward ball am victor nebraska, jean valentine, as was a net cord and, robert caro, both of whom are winners of the pulitzer prize. also winners of the pulitzer prize, katherine boo and applebaum, amanda foreman, national book critics circle winner laura and robert. and, finally, dave eggers. and stephen king, recipient of the national book foundation's medal for distinguished contributions to american letters. please join me in recognizing

these great american writers. [applause] i would like to thank our financial supporters without him we could not bring you the awards, or our programs. again, i will ask you to hold your applause until i read the list. premier sponsors, barnes & noble, thanks guys, random house, the ford foundation, leadership sponsors, clinton meyer book publishing papers, a division of central national, coral graphics, penguin, and sponsors amazon, google, harper collins, stephen king, and deborah wiley, thank you. [applause] now for something special. i'd like to acknowledge in our audience the winners of our

fourth annual innovation and reading prize funded by the lavender foundation. if you are worried about the next generation of book lovers, just listen to this list and again hold your applause until i'm finished. we have with us tonight 15 year old lily-white from coral gables. she started a giving library in a homeless shelter where kids could take as many books as they wanted that they within own, not borrow. in chicago, reading against the odds enhance the critical thinking skills of adult literacy learners by introducing them to challenging, intellectually challenging books at the library in colorado, a group of teenagers calling themselves the interesting readers society produced unique books for television programmi programming. in portland, oregon, street books at the library for people who live on the streets, clinton books by bicycle, and memphis, tennessee, wheelman read, brings african-american men together with three to five-year-olds to

develop a lifelong readers. i would like to ask each of the winners to stand and be recognized for the dedication they bring to their task. [applause] >> and finally, i would like to thank my fellow board members for their hard work. and i have to acknowledge the foundation staff this year under the tireless leadership of harold. now listen to this, two weeks ago, the foundation offices were flooded. they have not reopened, and in the past three days the staff have pulled a seven big events including this one with no telephones, no office, no mail. computer servers now reside in

herald dining from. from all of us, our heartfelt thanks. [applause] now, on behalf of the national book foundation, congratulations to all our finalists. good luck, and on to the awards ceremony. thank you. [applause] >> just a few orders of business before we begin the awards. one is that the books on your table, you are allowed to take over i'm sitting with herald, and he said you can. so if you wrote one of them undertake you don't that's a little weird. you can take the lead, rose petals if that's your thing. what's going to happen is that this is the order of the awards. we will learn the winners of

young peoples literature, in poetry, then nonfiction, then fiction. this does not mean that fiction is the most important. it just means that the fiction writers hold their liquor better than the poets. there you go. i love that corner. i want to share something really quickly that they can benefit everyone industry. i heard a story on public radio the other day that there's a certain branch of publishing that's actually enjoying really robust sales. apparently coffee table books are where it's at. i heard this on marketplace. who was applauding for coffee table books? table 33 is the coffee table book table. okay, so because we're all in this for the money, clearly, i'm thinking, herald, make sure this is the national coffee table

book award. that's a makeover, right? but why wait? with acute tweets we could coffee table as some of the star's nominee just in time for christmas. so all a grand for the king becomes a beautifully glossy 3-d celebration of elvis, right? we don't have elvis lovers out there. the yellow bird is a pop-up book experience of big bird emerged victorious in the 20 election. that's good for kids, right? and q., thank you. and then heavenly bodies is of course a feast for the eyes offering artful nude photos of this year's nominee to run. robert carroll gets the centerfold. all right, on that note we go to young peoples literature.

[applause] him to present the national book award in young peoples literature is gary d. schmidt. [applause] now, i did my due diligence on mr. schmidt, and i could not find anywhere in wikipedia or elsewhere online what his middle name is. but if another one of his obvious is cutting and splitting wood. in addition, gary d. schmidt is author of the newberry honor and -- the newbery honor winning the wednesday awards and okay for now, a national book award finalists in 2011, and it gives me great pleasure to introduce gary d. schmidt. ♪ >> good evening.

over these last few months i've had the privilege of being the chair of the committee organized to choose national book awards for young peoples literature. in these months we read something over 325 books for young readers ranging from fiction books for the very young reader to paranormal books for the young adult. lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of paranormal books for young adults. [laughter] it was a remarkable journey, and along the way we found books that shook us, that filled us with joy and gladness, that summoned us to courage and to wonder, that use of language in a astounding ways that surprise us of what narrative could do. or to put in the words of saint augustine, we found books that brought beauty into the world of our young uighurs, and a broad knowledge and understanding into the world. and that brought wisdom into

that world. we found books, and this, says saint augustine, is a books greatest virtue. we found books that served the young readers in deep and moving ways. and thus, we found our five finalists. these were the others who took that journey with me on that road. judith ortiz, susan cooper, daniel, marla gillman's, judith susan daniel marley. i tell you the truth it is one of the great honors of my life to have been a part of this committee with you. i knew i would find wisdom in you all. i never expected to find friends. thank you for your labors in this vineyard and for your high and noble courtesy and kindness, for your belief that writing for young people is so critically important to our culture.

and such strangely troubled days working with you has brought me back to hope. thank you. [applause] the five finalists for the national book award for young peoples literature are, william alexander, "goblin secrets." [applause] published by margaret k. books, simon and schuster's children's publishing. a wholly original fantasy about masking and finding. kerry, out of reach. [applause] published by simon bowles, simon & schuster's children's publishing, a story of the links of love and loss. patricia mccormick, never fall down. [applause]

published by harper's and collins, a harrowing and bravely told story of survival and resilience during the timely -- [inaudible] spent elliott, endangered. [applause] published by scholastic books, a story of love and empathy that extends beyond all boundaries, even though the line between species. steve, bomb. [applause] the race to build and steal the world's most dangerous weapon, published by flashpoint, an imprint of roaring brook press. a riveting thriller of a book that tells of the birth of a new age. to all these writers, thank you. thank you for your work.

and thank you for what it will mean to young readers in our nation. this year's national book award for young peoples literature goes to william alexander or "goblin secrets." [applause] ♪ ♪ >> okay. okay, we now have proof that

alternate universes exist. there is one, there's absolutely one, there has to be, where endangered texas over this one a little further where it was written by a noble author. i think it won both times. and just another step, ma just another little step sideways from where we're standing, out of reach, out of reach has to take this home for create such a substance, out of such a wrenching absence. and this moment, just a little, little step away from where we are, we are also being reminded of the devastating importance of narrative in never fall down. and if we exclude that set of earth's already destroyed by the bomb, and instead only consider the steps that survived to this day, then a great many of those as the bomb taking us home.

but we happen to be here, and and i happen to write fantasy. and for the importance of that, i have to defer to ursula, as everyone should. [applause] spent of course. who i believe has one of these at home. and she tells us that the literature of the imagination is important because it gives us a world large enough to contain alternatives and, therefore, offers hope. because the way things are is not the only possible way that they could become and what have you know that. we always have to know that. we have to remember that. and stories of the very first way we learned that, the very first way we figure that out. so thank you, karen. thank you, joe. thank you, thank you. thank you, alice. congratulations to my fellow

finalists in every single possible version of our world, and thank you all for joining me in this one. [applause] >> [inaudible conversations] >> the d. stands for david. william alexander just had a baby girl named iris to ago, so he is a winner all around. [applause] >> to present the national book award for poetry is laura kasischike. laura kasischike has published eight selections of poetry.

most recently faith in changing 2011 for which she received the national book critics circle award. she has been a guggenheim fellow and has won two fellowships from the national endowment for the arts, and she's also published several novels. please help me welcome laura kasischike. [applause] ♪ ♪ >> what i did on my summer vacation. this was a summer a number of beliefs i held to be self evident were developed. the first belief was that by poets put in a metaphorical room together and told to agree on, well, anything, let alone decide what the five most moving beautifully crafted, humbling, deserving and mind blowing books in a pile of hundreds of books could never in fact do so without, if not bloodshed, serious podium.

i took on this task thinking it would be mostly worthwhile and interesting, not that i would have for new enemies out there in the poetry world. it didn't happen that way. we agreed early on and easily that we were in search of enduring merit. and that was all. it was scary, that first conference call. i was still sure i wasn't the one who thought that, right, enduring merit except the one reader is enduring merit could easily be another's offensive drivel. and then what? but my fellow panelists tracy k. smith. [applause] morris manning, patrick rose all, dan 11, and i, walked into a metaphorical room all summer, emerged not only intact but breathlessly in sync. a lasting poetry the poetry that brought to our doorsteps and stopped us there, pushing all

the other work away, we didn't disagree, but more than that we shared a passion and a sense of urgency about seeing that this work was brought forth and presented to the world. in other words, this was easy and obvious just like all the internal and external wrestling that went into it. i make it sound as if we didn't even need to talk about it, but oh, did we talk. oh, did we list. oh, did we worry. but we did in sympathy and with a shared vision. and although i like to think that my group of panelists was of course uniquely incredible, and that we were destined to do this together, i do believe in the end it was these five books we finally collapsed with and applauded and loved as a group that made it possible for us to emerge full of joint about this process. a finalist for the national book award in poetry this year r. david ferry, but wildermuth. [applause] new poems and translation, published by the university of chicago press.

cynthia huntington, heavenly bodies, published by southern illinois university press. [applause] ten, fast animal, published by -- [applause] alan schapiro, night of the republic, published by -- [applause] and susan wheeler, published by the university of iowa press. [applause] >> i want to thank my fellow panelist and acknowledged them. my former best friends in poetry world for extraordinary minds, just as readers and thinkers. these poets full generosity and excitement is modus were incredible for poets, unbelievably pure. we truly bring you what we searched for and found. so the first debunk belief was that poets are always looking r